Buddha Beholds Womankind: And She is Good!

Today's quote seems to put women down on a cosmic scale:

QUOTE: And the Nirvana Sutra also says, "If all the desires and delusions of all the men throughout the major world system [one major world system equals one billion worlds] were lumped together, they would be no greater than the karmic impediment of one single woman." UNQUOTE: [Source: Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol. 3, p. 20]

This statement was attributed to the Buddha!

Since I haven't shown any restraint regarding other faiths, I must be consistent by critiquing my own Buddhist faith. So here goes.

Now it's refutation time

As with all teachings of the Buddha, two determinations must be made:

ONE: Is the statement in question true? [No, I do not believe it is true, nor do I think the Buddha believed it to be true.]

TWO: If it is not true, then why did he say it? [He said it as an "Expedient Means" - a teaching method which has been called the foremost device of the Buddhas.]

Initial Observation

First of all, the Buddha isn't using the same basis of comparison for men and women. That is, he is not comparing men to women in terms of their "karmic impediments;" nor is he considering the "desires and delusions" of each group. Also consider, would a derivative statement be as true as the original (or as false) if in the original you substituted "man" for "woman" and "woman" for "man?"

The element of time seems to be at issue as well: The Buddha is comparing the present-life status of all men to the all-lives status of one woman. I'll rephrase the quote to show this:

QUOTE: If all the desires and delusions of all the men [who are currently alive] throughout the major world system were lumped together, they would be no greater than the karmic impediment [that is, the summation of karma accumulated since the infinite past] of one single woman. UNQUOTE.

 

So why did the Buddha say this?

The Buddha issued this statement to challenge us - men and women alike. The words of the Buddha are supposed to penetrate our deepest mind and speak to our dormant Buddha nature. Upon hearing these words, an enlightened reaction is supposed to manifest which is rather mysterious and beyond closed-system logic.

In addition, he knows that men are insecure and have trouble dealing with women as equals. He knows that women aren't used to being profoundly decisive in the manner of a Buddha. He also knows that if women have strikes against them, men are often the pitchers of those strikes. Makes me wonder what karmic retribution those pitchers must suffer in later lives. [To be reborn as (gasp!) women?]

World-Wide Enlightenment

The human race cannot spiritually advance with one hand tied behind its back, so to speak. Women must come to the fore, breaking the bonds of patriarchy. [This is one reason why I blast the Pope and the patriarch Abraham, among others.] And sympathetic men out there must be willing and patient allies to these women. We need female assertiveness and vitality. We also need men who find virtue in patience and aren't greedy for all the marbles.

This is one reason why I am reaching out to women in my bid to create a new politics. I hope you'll consider: "E who hesitates is lost." Haven't you waited long enough?

Steven Searle for U.S. President in 2012

I am the only candidate offering a written contract in exchange for votes: “The Buddha never offered a written contract but I’m not the Buddha. Come to think of it: Neither are my opponents (but they’re not even trying, so maybe that’s the difference).”